Ruts DC get up close and personal in the smoke
RUTS DC
THE NEW CROSS INN
Not going to lie, I felt a massive surge of positivity by simply getting off the train, stopping for a pint and then walking into a gig again. It was beautifully normal. Tonight Ruts DC kick off their second of two sold-out shows at The New Cross Inn with the perfect opening duo of ‘Music Must Destroy’ and ‘Dangerous Minds’. The superlative ‘Kill The Pain’ seamlessly makes the jump from electric to acoustic and the chorus remains utterly infectious before the band drop a brand new track. ‘Kill Zone’ has all the hallmarks of a Ruts DC classic while ‘In A Rut’ is just that and some. Drummer Ruffy takes lead vocals on ‘Hometown Blues’ before ‘Physic Attack’ leads us into an intermission.
The second half gets underway with ‘Golden Boy’ a song that according to Segs wasn’t written about former Ruts vocalist Malcolm Owen but the emotive cut still resonates with a shadowing sense of both loss and love. ‘Something That I Said’, ‘Soft City Lights’ and ‘West One (Shine On Me)’ all gleefully volley us towards the fast-approaching 10 pm gig curfew. During the closing chin smacking one-two of ‘Babylons Burning’ and the immense ‘Staring At The Rude Boys’ I glanced around the venue to see a throng of smiling and singing faces all happily lost in the moment. Suddenly live music was once more normal, fun and meaningful and it’s only now, the morning after, that I realise just how lucky those of us inside were. The only issue about getting to South East London is getting back from South East London so as the encores of ‘Love In Vain’ and a cover of Bowie’s ’Suffragette City’ were filling the night air I was running for the train. The Ruts DC put in both a blinding and professional performance and it’s one that will live long in the 2021 musical memory bank. 10/10.
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